


Toadally Strange

by sbuggbot



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Humor, I don't have an explanation for this, It just happened, Team Dad Orik
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24868666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: Sometimes Orik isn't sure what's going on in Tarah and Thayne's heads. At least sometimes it's silly nonsense that isn't all that serious or heavy.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Toadally Strange

**Author's Note:**

> *stumbles in holding a Starbucks coffee even though a)there is no Starbucks in my town and the closest one is in the next state over and b)I don't even like coffee*  
> It's been a while, hasn't it? I don't really have an explanation as to why that happened other than not really having any ideas. Whenever I thought about writing some, my head would just go blank. But hey, I made a ton of fics over the past year so I wasn't very upset over it.
> 
> (yes I know the title is a terrible pun and I groaned when I came up with it but I don't care enough to change it lol)

Okay, that was the third time since Orik started keeping track that the twins had been in and out the back door now, acting sneaky the whole time. Tarah and Thayne were definitely hiding something from Orik. He didn't manage to slowly gain their trust over time without ending up learning many of their little cues and tells in the process. It wasn't anything new, really. They'd kept things from him before, especially before they felt safe and comfortable opening up to him.

This time, though, whatever they were hiding didn't seem to be something they were worried about. The tense undercurrent of anxiety that came from trying to deal with some issue by themselves wasn't there. In its place was stifled giggles and futile attempts to shush each other's giggles. 

Curiosity was getting the better of Orik. "Are you two up to something?" he asked in a playful tone, not even bothering to hide a smirk.

Thayne's head popped up from behind the couch. "Noo..." He said. It would have been a more convincing no if he hadn't giggled in the middle of saying it. And if he and his sister weren't huddled around...something, consciously making sure Orik couldn't clearly see what they were up to.

Orik straightened up and craned his neck in an attempt to get a better view, to no avail. "Well, alright then..." he said as he leaned back. If they were really not wanting him to know about it, they probably would have gone elsewhere by now. Besides, he was curious about how this was going to play out.

Orik watched the twins went through the go-outside-for-a-minute-then-come-back-in routine again, this time catching a glimpse of a spare box in Tarah's paws. Orik just decided to go back to reading.

...Something small and brown came flying towards Orik out of his peripheral and he jumped. Not like the time he was visiting Galleo's house and got startled by his mother's walking puffball of a dog, but he reacted strongly enough to make the twins laugh and to knock the book off his lap. 

Once he got his bearings in order again, Orik looked down at the coffee table and saw...a frog. Or was it a toad? It looked like a toad, actually. Either way, it was an organic one. "Where---"

"In the garden," Tarah said, in a tone that suggested that a living toad on the coffee table was a normal thing. At least it wasn't there for long; Thayne caught it before it could leap off again. "You weren't supposed to see that yet."

"I wasn't?" Then there was a rustling noise and Orik noticed that box Tarah had been carrying earlier, laying on its side.

"Wait, the box!" Tarah said, rushing back towards it.

She didn't get there in time to keep its contents from escaping. One, two, three toads? And a small lizard. What even were they plotting, that was what Orik wanted to know.

"Whoops, don't let them get lost in the house!" Thayne fixed the box and put his toad back in there while Tarah caught one of the other toads.

"Why did you…?"

"Why not?" Tarah said. Thayne was trying to fish the lizard out from under the seat. Unable to reach it, he took the opportunity to catch nearby toad and return it to the box. "Don't worry about it."

The little lizard skittered out the other end of the seat, up the wall, then climbed onto the bonsai on the windowsill.

"Hey, you can't be on there," Orik said to the lizard as he carefully picked it up. It was a small green lizard he couldn't recall the species of at the moment, nothing too special about it aside from the fact it didn't belong loose in the house or on his bonsai. "I've had that plant for a long time, please don't hurt it." 

"I got the last of Galleo's cousins," Tarah said, holding up a brown bumpy toad. "Thayne, did you find the lizard?"

"I did," Orik said as he presented the lizard in his hand. 

The last of the critters were placed back in the box for safekeeping, Thayne being sure to keep the lid shut. "Make sure you put those poor critters back soon," Orik said as the twins left again.

"We will!"

Orik still didn't know why they were planning to bring toads into the house...

**Author's Note:**

> Visit my Tumblr if you're not already here from there: [sbuggbot.tumblr.com](https://www.sbuggbot.tumblr.com)


End file.
